Cracking the Case of Packing Peanuts,

Eco- Friendly vs. Regular

Problem Scenario

In today's world, more and more people are ordering things off the internet, so more and more packing peanuts are having to be made. This, understandably, is bad for the environment, so people have created an eco-friendly kind. This is great for the environment, because they are biodegradable, but do they work as well as the we've known for so long? Well, that's what this experiment is all about.

Broad Question

What is the effect of packing materials on fragile objects?

Specific Question

Does eco-friendly packing peanuts work as well as the regular kind?

Hypothesis

I predict that eco-friendly packing peanuts will work just as well as the regular kind.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

packing materials

Dependent Variable:

eggs

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

box size
number of packing peanuts
height dropped

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Biodegradable- able to break down on it's own by the actions of living organisms
Mycelium- the "hidden roots" of mushrooms, used to make eco-friendly packing peanuts

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General Plan

I will take a box and put a certain number of packing peanuts in it. Then I will put in an egg, and drop it from a certain height. If the egg breaks I will count it as one point.

Potential Problems And Solutions

One potential problem is that the eggs will not break- I will keep going up higher and higher

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

no safety or environmental concerns

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials:

20 for Eco-Friendly
20 for Regular

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

2

When data will be collected:

March 24th, 2012

Number of Observations:

40

Where will data be collected?:

at my house

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Estimated Cost
Eco-friendly Packing Peanuts	$0
Regular Packing Peanuts	$0
Boxes	$0
Dozen Eggs	$2

Data Table

Height Dropped

3ft

4ft

5ft

6ft

7ft

8ft

9ft

10ft

11ft

12ft

13ft

Trial

Eco-Friendly

Regular

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Background Research

There are a few things that I was wondering about with my experiment, so I have done some research to answer my questions. I had three questions, how much force is necessary to break an egg, what is used to make packing peanuts both eco-friendly and regular, and of both kinds which are more expensive to manufacture.

First I decided to research how much force was needed to break an egg. It turns out that force is measured in newtons, abbreviated by N. It takes thirty-five N to break an egg on it's end, and it takes twenty-five N to break an egg on its side. This means that since the side has more surface area, it makes it easier to break. That makes sense. For example if you have a large, thin pane of glass it will be easier to break than a little shard.

Next, I researched what is used to make packing peanuts. In regular foam peanuts, they use something called polyethylene , a kind of plastic. Most Eco-firendly packing peanuts are made with corn starch, but some are made using mushroom roots. Using corn starch makes them soluble in water, and edible. They have no nutritional value, but if swallowed it won't harm you.

Last I researched which type are more expensive to manufacture. I finallt found out that eco-friendly packing peanuts are more expensive to manufacture than regular ones. Also, eco-friendly are more expensive to buy than regular ones. A seven cubic foot bag of regular peanuts is sold on amazon.com for $30.22 and seven cubic feet of eco-friendly ones are sold for $41.06.

References

"Google." Google. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://www.google.com>.

Hill, Michael. "N.Y. Company Grows Packing Material from Mushroom 'roots'" The Detroit News. Web. 05 Apr. 2012. <http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120314/BIZ/203140326/N-Y-company-grows-packing-material-from-mushroom-roots-?odyssey=mod>.

"Foam Peanut." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 June 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foam_peanut>.

"Polyethylene." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene>.

Detailed Procedure

1. I put a predetermined number of packing peanuts in a box
2. Then, I stuck an egg in the middle of the box.
3. I went outside, then measured 3 feet up my house.
4. I put a flat board under the mark, then went and got my box.
5. I lined the bottom of the box up with the 3 foot mark.
6. Then, I dropped the box onto the board.

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Results

All Raw Data

Height Dropped	3ft		4ft		5ft		6ft		7ft		8ft		9ft		10ft		11ft		12ft		13ft
Trial	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	1	2
Eco-Friendly	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Regular	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	0	0	X	X	X	X

Egg Broken	X
Egg Survived	0

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

Throughout my experiment, the height I dropped the box from grew. I assumed that the higher I dropped them from, the more eggs will break. I was correct in the regular category. At the height of ten feet, the first regular packing peanut egg broke. No eggs broke at eleven feet, but both regular packing peanut eggs broke at twelve and thirteen feet. I stopped after thirteen feet, but still no eggs from an eco-friendly packing peanut box had broken.

Conclusion

Before my experiment, I thought that the eco-friendly packing peanuts would work as well as the regular ones. I was incorrect, the eco-friendly packing peanuts work better than regular ones.

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Discussion

While I was doing my experiment, I noticed a pattern. When the height increases, the number broken for the regular peanuts also increase. However, the eco-friendly don't break all throughout my experiment. This pattern is the answer to my question. One thing that could've been done better in my experiment was the amount of packing peanuts in each box. The different types of peanuts were different shapes, so the same amount couldn't have fit in the box and fill it up. This might be why the eco-friendy packing peanuts kept the eggs whole better. Some additional information that would've helped my experiment was knowing how much packing materials were normally used in shipping. I could've gone to a factory and recorded the amount of packing materials they used. If I were to go on with the experiment, I would've changed the amount of packing peanuts I used. This wouldve had made the experiment on price, as well as efficiancy.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

One benifit to the community is that now that we know that the eco-friendly peanuts work better, people don't have to worry about having to decide to be green or to possibly harm their paid for goods. Another benifit is that now people will use the eco-friendly peanuts which is better for the environment.

Abstract

For my science fair project, I tested weather eco-friendly packing peanuts work as well as regular ones. I did this because it was something I had been thinking about for a while, and it is a good thing to know. I thought that both types would work as well, but in my experiment I proved that regular packing peanuts work better than regular ones. For my experiment, I measured up the side of my house, marking each foot. I dropped a box with each type of packing peanuts and an egg and dropped it from each height. Now that people know this, they can feel better about protecting their pruchases, while staying green.